1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a cord stopper, more specifically to a cord stopper that is used for an end treatment of a cord.
2. Description of Related Art
Cords have been widely used for closing openings of shoes, bags, garments and clothing accessories, adjusting sizes thereof, and the like.
Further, the cords have been used in various situations such as coupling articles and fixing goods.
Note that the cords herein refer to all kinds of corded bodies that can be used for binding, examples of which include a tape, a belt, an elastic cord and the like in addition to a typical cord, a wire, a cable, etc.
These cords are typically provided with an end treatment, because simply cutting the cords causes cut surfaces thereof to have rough appearance or rough texture, and in a case with twisted cords, the cut surfaces might be frayed.
Although the simplest end treatment is to provide a knot, there have been proposed to attach a dedicated cord stopper for enhancing operability and fanciness (see, for instance, Reference 1: JP2004-204376A and Reference 2: JP2001-340113).
A conventional cord stopper includes a cylindrical socket and a plug that is inserted into the socket, the plug then being engaged within the socket with an end of a cord being caught therein. In use, the end of the cord is inserted into the socket from one opening of the socket. The end of the cord is pulled out from the other opening of the socket and then grasped between a pair of grasping legs of the plug, the plug then being inserted into the other opening of the socket. When the plug is engaged within the socket, the end of the cord is enclosed in the socket, and the end of the cord being caught by the plug can be prevented from being disengaged from the socket.
In the cord stopper described above, it is important to tightly fix the end of the cord within the socket so as not to be disengaged from the socket even when the cord is pulled.
Reference 1 discloses an arrangement including: two projections provided on one of the grasping legs of the plug, the projections being arranged to have a U-shaped cross section for holding the cord therein; and a projection provided on the other one of the grasping legs, the projections being arranged alternately in a combed manner. With the arrangement, when the end of the cord is grasped between the grasping legs, the cord is curved and grasped by the projections arranged in the combed manner.
However, since the cross section of the projections is U-shape in Reference 1, a cord with thin diameter might be disengaged. Especially, a corded body such as an elastic cord, the diameter of which becomes thinner when being pulled and stretched, can easily be disengaged when the elastic cord is pulled. In addition, since the surface of the elastic cord has a surface fiber density higher than those of typical cords, the elastic cord cannot be properly grasped by the arrangement in which the cord is curved and grasped by the projections arranged in the combed manner as disclosed in Reference 1. Further, since the projections are arranged in the combed manner, a grasping force is weak.